Cedric Price, a radical architect of the 20th century, once said: “Technology is the answer. But what is the question?” It remains just as pressing an issue for fixed income markets today.

As crippling capital requirements have rendered bond dealers unable to put their balance sheets to work, buyside firms have gone in the opposite direction and are sitting on record levels of newly issued debt. It has left practitioners asking themselves: "What happens when interest rates rise, the credit market turns and buyside firms sitting with big bond positions seek an exit?"